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Does a gyroscope need to be free rotating or can it be propelled by a source of some sort?

i am currently on a project that has brought me to the thought of a gyroscope as a source of balance. I am wondering if it matters whether i have the gyroscope free rotating or if I can have a small light weight motor rotate it to insure it will never stop unless the source is extinguished. the project is a balanced humanoid robotic organism but i have pondered on how to balance it for some time. finally i thought of the gyroscope or “the mighty cheese” ( an older popular gyroscope used by a circus known to never be pushed over do to a gyro scope in the outer plastic cheese shell.) if i have two gyroscopes rotating forward and to the side i can make a robot that will never fall over or be pushed over as long as the gyroscopes stay rotating. will it truly matter if i have a power source to the gyroscopes. i thank you for your answers and hope they help me in my search for answers.

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Answer #1

balancing would need a free form gyroscope as a motorized one will most likely not do the counter balancing well enough

But if you can calculate the angle needed for your “bot” to effectively walk you could use a motor… although this will limit your balancing capabilities and would actually be against your project

so here is an idea, use one gyroscope in the upper section (near the neck) of the robot and another in the lower section (since its “humanoid” it would be located around the groin) Both free rotating gyroscopes will enable you to calculate the angle of displacement better and using counter weights attached to the gyroscopes (you need to somehow accomplish that) you can have perfect balance :)

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